The Coffee of Getting Sh*t Done Is Still $3 a Can

No, the recession isn’t over yet. But as we head into the final stretch of the commencement season, novelist Alexander Chee has some good news for the class of 2010.

Today I opened the cabinet in the kitchen at a writers colony down in the Florida Keys, where I found a can of Café Bustelo left behind by a previous resident, and it made me smile. Someone, I thought, had a lot to do.

Café Bustelo is the coffee of a deadline. If you need to be up all night and make sense and not stop, not for any reason, don’t call for illegal substances. Go to you nearest bodega or supermarket and get yourself a 1 lb. yellow can. Over the years I’ve discovered that most of my friends who I know from New York B.S. (Before Starbucks) drink it, or used to, because one cup can feel like eight lines of coke. And that 1 lb. can still costs around three bucks.

Even New York is perfectly manageable if you drink Café Bustelo. One cup when you wake up and you feel like you can walk out that door and do anything—write your novel, satisfy your girlfriend/boyfriend, beat down your rivals and make your boss smile. And then go out. All night. And when you’ve just arrived in New York, and you have no money but a lot of ambition, this coffee is your secret weapon. The flavor on its own when brewed in a stovetop espresso pot is a little complex, with a floral and even a black pepper top note, unexpected, given the warm nutty aroma when you open the can. It is better with milk. If you normally drink coffee black, use a little sugar or honey. And then prepare to finish whatever it is you have left to do. —Alexander Chee

Alexander Chee is the author of [Edinburgh](http://www.amazon.com/Edinburgh-Novel-Alexander-Chee/dp/0312305036) and the forthcoming The Queen of the Night. He blogs at Koreanish

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